I just attended one of the most awesomely energetic concerts last night! There was dancing, bands immersing themselves into the crowd while playing their instruments, and the audience sitting on stage with the band for the finale. I didn’t know much about the band so I had zero expectations coming into it, and I was blown away not only by the headliner but the entire showcase.

Local Natives opened the night with a set that had me thinking back to when Fleet Foxes last appeared in Vancouver. Their tight harmonies had me so impressed that all I could think about was telling everyone about them the next day. They mentioned that they forgot to bring copies of their album and encouraged the audience to download their music as punishment for their mistake. I did exactly that and it’s been on repeat all day.

Fool’s Gold was up next and delighted the audience with some Hebrew lyrics, heavy drums, and a guitar player that had us bowing to his greatness. Well, at least I did. The guys had a tropical vibe going on with their instrumentals and once I found out they were from California it made a lot more sense. They had a great, laid-back vibe throughout their set with a burst of energy at the end when they came off the stage and finished their song in the middle of the audience.

I didn’t know much about Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros coming into the show, so I pulled up a couple Youtube videos of them and got a mellow, hippie vibe from them. A few songs into their set, I began to understand the comparisons made with The Mamas and the Papas. The bare feet, the psychedelic vibe they were giving out as they grooved to their music, and the feel-good folk songs they performed made a perfect recipe for all this hippie talk. Adding to it was frontman Alex Ebert’s invite for the audience to sit around the band on stage while they performed their final song, and those who couldn’t fit just sat on the dancefloor. The concert became very intimate and I was amazed at the connection the band was able to form with us.

Local Natives:

Fool’s Gold:

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros